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 #2 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 13:10 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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Could you please tell me if a person's personality has to do anything with his appearance? I think personality is a person's character--honest, rude, helpful, guile are its few traits. (Am I right?)-- You are right; it does not.
Then why do people look at someone's photograph they don't know and say "What a personality!"?-- They are extrapolating the personality from the person's expression, I suppose.
Strong, handsome, fair--aren't these the traits of someone's appearance?-- Yes, though 'strong' is also a mental quality.
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 Mister Micawber
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| #3 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 14:49 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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The word "fair" can also be a personality trait.
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Yankee
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| #4 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 17:36 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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| So the expression "personality and looks sometimes go hand in hand" has no real foundation in anything, right? |
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Molly
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| #5 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 17:47 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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Sounds like that's what you believe, M.
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| #6 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 18:09 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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| Yankee wrote: |
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Sounds like that's what you believe, M.
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Not me, totally, but I've seen then met a few people who turn out to be just as I had expected. Haven't you?
He looks like a nice/nasty/nice and tidy/clever/decent/dishonest, etc. guy" sometimes turns out to be right, right? |
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Molly
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| #7 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 21:17 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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| Well, that's probably true in terms of appearance if you mean thinks like "slovenly" or other aspects their appearance that they have control over, but when I read this the first time, I was thinking only about things like beauty or height, which the person can't control. (Although I can -- and do! -- control my hair color.) |
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Barb_D
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| #8 (permalink) Mon Oct 20, 2008 22:40 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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| Quote: |
| I was thinking only about things like beauty or height, which the person can't control. |
Plastic surgery and platform shoes? :wink: |
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MrPedantic
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| #10 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 0:31 am "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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Is this test week, MrP? |
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Molly
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| #11 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:39 am "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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Hmm, I got 14 out of 20. Average, I suppose? However, I didn't see an average, just the "most people are surprisingly bad at it" comment.
#13 (go figure!) scared me. That person (gender uncertain) can't be completely stable.
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| #12 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 17:37 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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Many thanks to you guys for your input. But I'm afraid I need some more light on this question. (As usual!)
Would a native speaker find this sentence odd? [The speaker is looking at the picture of a person he has never met/known]
| Quote: |
| What a personality! |
Would a native speaker prefer?
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| What an appearance! |
If native speakers accept the use of the word personality in the red circumstances, then it means that personality is synonymous to appearance in many situations. [Am I right?]
I would love to see your take on this question.
Thanks again,
Tom |
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| #13 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 18:42 pm "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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I got 17 of them right - I gave credit for being genuine to 3 people who were faking.
I find "what a personality!" to be ... okay. Not very common, but not that weird in the right context.
However, "What an appearance!" is not at all natural. What a great smile! What a great body! What gorgeous hair! Even "What a looker she is, huh?" are all natural, but not the word "appearnance." |
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Barb_D
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| #14 (permalink) Wed Oct 22, 2008 0:21 am "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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I would agree with Barb, on "What a personality!". The speaker infers a notable personality from the person's photograph in much the same way as those who did better than me in the "smiling" test can infer fakeness from the little clips. (I only managed 12/20.)
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| #15 (permalink) Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:20 am "Personality" vs "Appearance" |
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| Quote: |
| can infer fakeness |
"Fakeness", MrP? |
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